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Mike Pinera (born September 29, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who started professionally in the late 1960s with the group
Blues Image Blues Image was an American rock band. They had a hit in 1970 with "Ride Captain Ride", which reached No. 4 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM magazine charts. Career Blues Image was formed in Tampa, Florida in 1966 b ...
, which had a number 4 hit in 1970 with their song " Ride Captain Ride". After the break-up of that group, he joined
Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal musi ...
, and later formed the group
Ramatam Ramatam was a 1970s rock band featuring Mike Pinera on guitar and vocals, April Lawton on lead guitar, and, for a short time, Mitch Mitchell on drums. Ramatam was notable for having Lawton, a female lead guitarist. Tom Dowd produced their self-tit ...
. Pinera was then the founding member of the band New Cactus, a later incarnation of the band
Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...
. He was the lead guitarist for
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...
from 1980 to 1982. He is currently performing with his solo band and
The Classic Rock All-Stars The Classic Rock All-Stars is a supergroup composed of hit-making artists in the 1960s and 1970s. The band has performed a variety of classic hits live often at outdoor festivals, since forming in 1992. The hit song " Get Ready" typically kicked of ...
.


Career


Early years

Mike Pinera and his group Blues Image were co-founders and house band at Thee Image, a Miami Beach concert venue they opened and co-headlined on weekends, playing with such groups as Cream, Grateful Dead, The Yardbirds, The Animals, Frank Zappa and many more.Mike Pinera Biography
Official Mike Pinera website. Blues Image soon signed with
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...
where they scored the major hit " Ride Captain Ride" (1970), which Pinera co-wrote and sang. Pinera joined
Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal musi ...
in 1970, and recorded the album ''
Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
''. He was one of the first guitarists to use the "Guitar Talk Box" which is featured on the song "Butterfly Bleu", which was written by Pinera. The album reached the top 20 and has achieved multi-platinum status. In 1972, Pinera and
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
's drummer
Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...
formed the band
Ramatam Ramatam was a 1970s rock band featuring Mike Pinera on guitar and vocals, April Lawton on lead guitar, and, for a short time, Mitch Mitchell on drums. Ramatam was notable for having Lawton, a female lead guitarist. Tom Dowd produced their self-tit ...
on
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...
, and was produced by
Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...
, who was quoted as saying this album was one of his all time favorites. In 1973, Pinera helped formed The New Cactus Band. They recorded the album, ''Son of Cactus'', on Atlantic Records. In 1975, he formed the band Thee Image and they recorded two albums on Manticore Records, ''Thee Image'' and ''Inside the Triangle'', both produced by Pinera.


Solo career

In 1977, Pinera's first solo album, ''Isla'', was released on Capricorn Records. It was followed by ''Forever'' in 1979 on Capitol Records. The songs were written and produced by Pinera. The ''Forever'' album contained the single "Goodnight My Love," which spent eight weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 70 in February 1980. It was also a hit in Latin America featured in Tele-Novelas Latin TV Series. Pinera joined the Alice Cooper band and he played in the band from the late 1970s to the early 1980s.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinera, Mike 1948 births Living people American rock musicians Musicians from Tampa, Florida Iron Butterfly members Alice Cooper (band) members Blues Image members Cactus (American band) members